Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Sunday had phone talks with his US counterpart George W. Bush on the volatile Mideast situation, the official MENA news agency reported.

"The discussions dealt with the latest developments in the Middle East region," MENA said.

"The two presidents stressed that it was important to continue to make efforts to realize stability and provide security for the people and countries of the region," it said.

The Mubarak-Bush phone conversation came at a time when the US forces have captured former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in an underground hole near his hometown of Tikrit.

However, MENA did not say whether the two leaders discussed Saddam's arrest.

Earlier in the day, the US forces declared that Saddam, who had been on the run since the downfall of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad on April 9, was captured Saturday evening near the northern Iraqi town of Tikrit.